Derecho territorial ecuatoriano

In their legal history of Ecuador’s territorial problems, the authors survey colonial Quito and the Gran Colombian era before embarking upon a study of the most important boundary question, that with Peru. The problem is summarized in lucid narrative from its origins through the 1960 declaration of the nullity of the Rio Protocol by former president Velasco Ibarra. In addition, the book includes short but adequate discussions of Ecuador’s frontier relations with Colombia and Brazil, and of her possession of the Galápagos. The five large folding maps provide valuable data essential for understanding the text. Dr. Tobar Donoso, his country’s Foreign Minister during the 1940-1942 crisis, and Professor Luna, tend, unfortunately, to ascribe a conspiratorial consistency to Peruvian foreign policy which that country’s political history hardly supports. Nevertheless, their approach is relatively cool and dispassionate. This is the best concise Ecuadorian treatment of the subject yet to appear, and will prove especially useful reading for the student of the West Coast nations.